Exploring Montgomery

The storytelling continues… a collection of stories and photos from Exploring Montgomery!

Yearly Archives: 2017

A postwar classic Greek Revival, considered to be the jewel of Montgomery’s historic Garden District. Probably built about the time of World War I, when Hull Street was inching its way South, and this was the last house. During the 1930s it was the home of Ray Rushton, who in […]

The Anderson House

July 31, 2017 in Residential tagged anderson / greek revival / ray rushton

At 440 Dalraida Road was built in 1954, but today it shines like a new penny. It was one of the first group of schools hurriedly constructed in the early 1950s. At the time Dalraida Road was only a dirt street, but the area was booming and the need was […]

Dalraida Elementary School

July 28, 2017 in Education tagged dalraida / elementary / school

Sits at the South end of our State Capitol, right at the apex of the Avenue of Flags. The original Liberty Bell is situated at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and supposedly it was rung in July of 1776 to announce the first reading of our Declaration of Independence. It had […]

Alabama’s Liberty Bell Replica

July 24, 2017 in Places and Things tagged bell / liberty / replica

High up in the once elegant Cottage Hill District, at 544 Martha Street, stands the Dowe Cottage . . . the 1866 home of Irish immigrants Mike and Mary Dowe. The house was built soon after the Civil War, as part of a neighborhood trend away from grand mansions of […]

Dowe Cottage

July 21, 2017 in Residential tagged cottage / dowe

Located just North of Jackson Hospital, between Forest Avenue and Mulberry Street. Ribbon cutting was held back in December 2011. It cost $15-million, of which our City and County Govts each put in over a mil. It is one of 15 such centers serving South-Central Alabama. This center is expected […]

River Region Health Center

July 17, 2017 in Commercial tagged center / health / healthcare / river region

Here, at the corner of South Decatur and High Streets, stands the last remnant of Capital City Laundry, for most of a century the laundry king of Montgomery. In 1970, Capital City boasted 11 branches, and its only real competitor, Empire-Rouse, had but 8 sites. On this corner, each one […]

Capital City Laundry

July 14, 2017 in Commercial tagged capital city / empire-rouse / laundry

Behold the remnant of the once grand Circuit City Store . . . at 500 Eastdale Loop (behind Max Credit Union). The Eastdale store opened with great fanfare circa 1990, a wonderland of electronic magic, with plenty of clerks, all real computer geeks with whom you could discuss a purchase. Circuit […]

Old Circuit City Store

July 10, 2017 in Commercial / Religious tagged circuit city / eastdale / ncc / safe harbor

When you approach the Capitol via the grand steps that lead up from Dexter Avenue, you find the larger-than-life statue of CSA President Jefferson Davis on your left, and standing across from Davis, on your right, is this bronze of Dr. John Allan Wyeth. . . 1845 – 1922. Wyeth […]

Dr. John Allan Wyeth

July 7, 2017 in Places and Things tagged allan / capitol / doctor / john / monument / poet / writer / wyeth

At the intersection of South Court and our derelict Southern Boulevard. Fifty years ago there was no Interstate route thru Montgomery, and this was the highway travel path. Montgomery’s center of commercial and construction activity was along this strip, and the “88” was the keenest structure in the area. It […]

88 Building

July 3, 2017 in Commercial / Religious tagged 88 / good news ministries

Out on Pike Road, built circa 1825. The Marks family moved here from the renowned Broad River Valley of NE Georgia, where my ggggg GF Dionysius Oliver had founded the doomed town of Petersburg in 1786. The Marks clan was part of the group of Virginians who moved to the […]

Marks Plantation House

June 30, 2017 in Residential tagged arts and crafts / colonial / house / marks / pike road / plantation / thanksgiving visitor

At the edge of the campus facing Taylor Road (I struggle with that name; I suppose it is the antithesis of “illness”). The interior (campus side) view looks fairly routine, but the Taylor Road side (pictured) almost looks like it might take flight. The facility has 73,000 square ft of […]

AUM Wellness Center

June 26, 2017 in Education tagged aum / gym / wellness

This crisply detailed, well-kept home at 1944 South Hull Street has an Italianate feel, and probably dates back to the late 1920s. When I moved here 60 years ago, I knew this as the home of Charles Voltz, general manager of the then still prestigious Algernon Blair construction company; Blair […]

Charles Voltz Home

June 23, 2017 in Residential tagged brent / charles / charlotte / italianate / springford / voltz

You would never believe this (I almost didn’t), but this poor relic of a once grand plantation house, was where Sir George Waller grew up circa 1900. This structure, until just recently an AUM bookstore, stands on Taylor road opposite the University, giving no hint of its grandeur of a century […]

Sir George Waller

June 19, 2017 in Commercial / Education / Residential tagged aum / bookstore / george / jacks / sir / waller

The announcement by AUM of its upcoming Clifford & Virginia Durr Lecture Series gave me cause to post this picture of that couple’s rented home during Montgomery’s turbulent civil rights era. The house is at #2 Felder Avenue, located on the corner at Court Street, and was built ca 1915. It […]

Clifford & Virginia Durr

June 16, 2017 in Residential tagged civil rights / clifford / durr / rosa parks / virginia

Was built ca 1890, and is Queen Anne style, with wonderful orange pressed brick, dominated by an unusual central tower. It is one of the very few large houses built in the historic Cottage Hill District during the latter part of the 1800s. Many pre-Civil War mansions were constructed up […]

The Mills House

June 12, 2017 in Residential tagged mills / Queen Anne

Out on the Mobile Highway, primarily a men’s shelter and outreach for and to the poor and homeless in Montgomery. It serves 1200 meals a week, and provides shelter to over 75/night. The “residents” prepare and deliver meals to the homeless throughout the city. The Mission is Presbyterian (PCA) affiliated […]

Friendship Mission

June 9, 2017 in Religious tagged friendship / homeless / mission / presbyterian / shelter

At 11 Capitol Parkway in the Capitol Heights Historic District, is one of the more interesting houses there. It is mostly Craftsman Style or American Foursquare, which I have never heard of, built circa 1912, and it incorporates the generous, livable front porch and single dominant roof dormer common to […]

Oliver Clapp House

June 5, 2017 in Residential tagged american foursquare / clapp / craftsman / oliver

Greystone Hotel — The once-grand Greystone, at 100 Commerce Street, was built in 1928. It was constructed as the Armstrong Hotel, or Cherokee Hotel, but was damaged by a fire in 1921 and sold off to become the Greystone. The 10-story classical structure was once nominated for listing on the National Register of […]

Greystone Hotel

June 2, 2017 in Commercial tagged armstrong / cherokee / greystone / hotel

Capri — They stand together on Fairview at the foot of the Old Cloverdale district. The Capri was built in 1941 and began life as the Clover Theatre, Montgomery’s first neighborhood movie house . Sinclair’s is a highly successful theme restaurant, and it occupies the old Sinclair Service Station structure. About the […]

Capri, Sinclairs & Stonehenge

May 29, 2017 in Commercial / Places and Things tagged capri / sinclairs / stonehenge

Davis Theatre — Formerly the old paramount, on Montgomery Street, was built in 1929 (only two years after Al Jolson appeared in the first “talkie”), and it is one of a very few movie houses in the South designed to accommodate both motion pictures and live vaudeville. It could seat 1200. Early on, […]

Davis Theatre

May 26, 2017 in Education tagged davis / theatre / troy

Occupies a commanding location on the corner formed by I-85, Perry Hill and Carmichael Road. Besides its high visibility, the Aronov 5-story Class-A office building boasts nicely landscaped, well kept grounds. -Charles Humphries

Carmichael Center

May 22, 2017 in Commercial tagged carmichael / center

It was founded in the early 1920s, positioned midway between the then mature Highland Avenue neighborhoods (made possible by the electric streetcar), and the new suburb of Cloverdale (made possible by the availability of the automobile). In 1930 it was called Mulberry St Presbyterian, and was listed as one of […]

Oak Park Presbyterian Church

May 19, 2017 in Religious tagged oak / park / presbyterian

Nee Ridgecrest Baptist, sits at 3703 Rosa Parks Avenue (which in the long ago was named Cleveland Avenue and was part of a fashionable neighborhood). This sanctuary was built in 1966 as part of Ridgecrest Baptist, which moved itself out onto the Vaughn Road ca 1975. Thus, for the past […]

Beulah Baptist Church

May 15, 2017 in Religious tagged baptist / beulah

Located in the bottom immediately behind the Crump Community Center (previous slide), alongside the old C of Ga tracks, boasts 12 lighted, hard surface tennis courts, shuffle board, picnic tables and the pictured clubhouse/ pro-shop. The park was originally opened as Bruce Park in 1971 during Mayor Earl James’ administration, […]

O’Conner Tennis Center

May 12, 2017 in Commercial / Education tagged oconner / tennis

Rosa Parks Museum — is part of the Troy campus, and it stands at the corner of Montgomery and Moulton Streets, directly across from the old Paramount (Davis Theater). It occupies the former site of the Empire Theater, and is contiguous to the very bus stop made famous when Rosa Parks was arrested there […]

Rosa Parks Museum

May 8, 2017 in Education / Government / Places and Things tagged boycott / museum / parks / rosa / troy

St Peters — The site of the traditional Red Mass, started by Alabama Chief Justice Howell Helfin in 1973, and held every year to mark the beginning of the new judicial year. In 1834 a wood frame church was built here at the corner of Adams and Lawrence, and there was conducted the […]

Saint Peter’s Church

May 5, 2017 in Religious tagged catholic / peter / romanesque revival / saint / spanish colonial

Hank Williams Monument — stands in Lister Hill Park directly opposite the City Hall Auditorium. Hank is revered as “the father of contemporary country music”; he was even awarded a rare Pulitzer music citation in 2009. His funeral in 1953 attracted more people than any Montgomery event since Jeff Davis was inaugurated 90 years […]

Hank Williams Monument

May 1, 2017 in Places and Things tagged hank williams / monument / statue